It has long been a problem to prevent ice and snow from collecting in roof spouting or gutter and clogging the spouting or gutter and the drains under thawing and freezing conditions and various efforts have been made to alleviate the problem.
It has been proposed, for example, to provide eaves trough covers as described in Goetz U.S. Pat. No. 2,672,832, which require supporting spikes to be driven into the building wall below the eaves to carry tubular members, to which discs are soldered for mounting the eaves trough covers. Consequently, the supporting assembly cannot readily be removed in the spring.
A shield partially covering the spouting has also been proposed as in Cassen U.S. Pat. No. 836,012. In this case, however, the installation is permanent, requiring braces nailed to the shingles and to the wall and riveted to the shield. An effort to overcome the disadvantages of a permanent installation which would prevent the eaves trough from functioning normally is represented by a proposal to provide a hinged or pivoted tin cover as described in Schaffert U.S. Pat. No. 274,393 of 1883. In this case, however, it is impracticable to uncover the trough except when opened for cleaning. Thus the problem has existed nearly a century.
Roof gutter screens for keeping out leaves and such debris have also been proposed as in Couture U.S. Pat. No. 2,805,632 and Steel U.S. Pat. No. 2,734,467. The former involves the use of riveted clips joining the screen to the gutter and rather complicated clamping means, not readily disassembled.